Resilient car coupler support



Oct. 9, 1951 K. E. ZEIDLER RESILIENT CAR couPLER SUPPORT Filed Dec. 16, 1946 fbimm INVENTOR. fa/fifi' Ze'dlef,

Patented Oct. 9, 1951 RESILIENT CAR COUPLER SUPPGRT Kurt E. Zeidler, Chicago, Ill., assigner to Stand-v ard Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Applieatien December 16, 1946, serial No; 716,486'

(ci. 21a-61) 8 Claims. 1

My invention relates to means for supporting the outer end of a railway car coupler adjacent its head so that the coupler may have a limited freedom of 'movement vertically and laterallyk and thereby be adjustable to the curves and un: evenness of the track. One of the objects of ther invention is to provide a resilient means for sup-v porting the outer end of a coupler so that when free to do so the coupler will return to a position adjacent the center of the car or at least to within safe coupling range.

Another object of the invention is to reduce ithe wear upon the coupler shank and thereby reduce the possibility of breakagel of said coupler shank by providing a resilient supported coupler carrier permitting limited downward angling of an associated coupler.

The object of the invention is to provide one or more resilient rollers vwhich cushion a railway car coupler while simultaneously returning the coupler to adjacent the longitudinal center of the car; that is, in what is called coupling range.

In the drawings:

The left side of Figure 1 shows the coupler and my device in normal position; that is, with the coupler on` the longitudinal center of the car and in normal height from the rail.

The right sidev of Figure 1 is similar to the left side but shows the coupler lowered as when going over a hump or rough track.

Figure 2 is a section on line 2--2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows a roller such as may be used in my device.

Figure 4 shows a modified structure of a roller which may be used with my device.

In the drawings the striking casting I is fixed to the car in any convenient manner and the cross bar 2 may be cast integral therewith or be a separate member, as shown, and secured to the striking casting I by the rivets 3.

The coupler 4 moves longitudinally, laterally and vertically of thet car in service.

The member fixedto the car, such as the cross bar 2, is provided with spaced concave surfaces 5 on the upper side thereof. The coupler carrier 6 is provided with lugs 'l so that the carrier moves laterally of the car with the coupler and is also provided with spaced concave surfaces 8 on the underside thereof. A resilient roller 9 is interposed between each pair of oppositely disposed concave surfaces which cushions the coupler against vertical shocks while at the same time the rollers cooperate with the concave surfaces to return the carrier and coupler by gravity to normal central position when free to do so. The rollers 9 may be made resilient inv any desired way, material or structure. For instance, a hollow cylindrical tube, such as illustrated in Figures 1 and' 2, could be used'of alloy steel, or the roller maybe made of solid rubber, or a steel or hard core with a rubber or other resilient covering. A coil spring could be used of `round or flat bars. The cylindrical roller is preferably provide with a slit II) or opening extending between the opposite ends of thel rollers, which slit is preferably diagonally disposed, as shown in Figure 3. The cylindrical roller may be made of two or more plies I I and I2 of the same or different materials. v 'Y The rollers 9 are of a diameter to normally hold the carrieri in spaced relation to the cross bars 2 Xed to the car, during the major portion of all service movements of the car.- However, during an abnormal downward movement of the coupler the edges of the slit are brought into engagement and then the rollers are compressed into egg shape, as shown in Fig. 1 until the carrier engages and is supported by said cross bar 2 at I8 and I9 (Figure 2). s

Figure 4 shows a roller comprising two cylindrical rollers I3 and I4 (each preferably provided with a longitudinal slit I5 and I6) wherein the outside diameter of the inner roller is smaller than the inside diameter of the outer roller and the inside roller is of thicker material than the outside roller. In this construction only the outside roller I3 is compressed by the normal service movements of the car, but upon a predetermined compression of the outer roller the inner roller I4 comes into play to resiliently resist the excessive downward shocks or downward forces on the coupler.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will Ioccur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A device for positioning and resiliently supporting a coupler upon a railway car having a member fixed to the car; said device comprising a carrier arranged to move laterally andvertically with a coupler and provided with a surface on the underside thereof, an element adapted to be fixed to said member and provided with a surface on the upper side thereof, and a multi-ply resilient roller interposed between said surfaces which cushions the carrier against vertical shocks as the surfaces co-operate with the roller to return the carrier to normal central position when free to do so, each of said plies having a slot extending between opposite ends thereof, the slit of each ply being disposed at an angle to the slit of an adjacent ply.

2. A device for resiliently supporting a coupler of a railway car having a striker xed to the car, said device comprising a laterally and vertically movable carrier having a roller engaging lower surface, a cross bar xed to said striker and having a, roller engaging upper surface, a multiply compressible resilient roller interposed between said surfaces to maintain said carrier in spaced relation from said cross bar during aver'- age service movements of the coupler, each of said plies having a slit extending between opposite ends thereof,y the slit of each ply being disposed at an angle to the slit of an adjacent ply.

3. A device as defined in claim 2 wherein the plies of said roller are in contact with each other for cooperative action.

4` A-device asV defined in claim 2 wherein an vouter ply of said roller is of thinner material than an inner ply.

5.'A device as defined in claim 2 wherein the inner diameter of an outer ply is greater than the outer diameter of the adjacent inner ply.

6. A spring roller adapted to receive forces applied in substantially a radial direction, said roller comprising a plurality of nested hollow cylindrical plies, each ply having a slitl extending from end to end thereof, ,the` slit of each ply being disposed at an angle to the slit of an adjacent ply, the inner diameter of an unstressed outer ply being such in respect to the outer diameter of an adjacent unstressed inner ply that said plies are freely slidable longitudinally one within another.

7. A compressible resilient roller for a railway car coupler positioning and supporting device, said roller comprising a plurality of hollow cylindrical plies, the inner diameter of an outer ply being greater than the outer diameter of the adjacent inner ply, each ply having a longitudinal slit therein extending between opposite ends thereof, the slit of each ply being disposed at an angle to the slit of an adjacent ply, said plies being freely slidable longitudinally one within another.

8. A spring roller adapted to receive forces applied in substantially a radial direction, said roller comprising a plurality of nested cylindrical plies, said plies being of such progressively decreasing diameters as to snugly nest one within the other, and when unstressed to be freely slidable longitudinally one within another, each ply having a slit extending from end to end thereof, the slit of each ply being disposed at an angle to the slit of an adjacent ply, whereby said plies mutually cooperate to resist forces applied in a radial direction to said roller.

KURT E. ZEIDLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Gct. 29, 1937 

